


Five Days of Rain

by lilyfarfalla



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, M/M, SGA Saturday Prompt Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-05
Updated: 2011-06-05
Packaged: 2017-10-31 09:49:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilyfarfalla/pseuds/lilyfarfalla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rodney wears rainboots and buys strawberries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Days of Rain

**Author's Note:**

> SCHMOOP! (At least, I hope so. There may be some pseudo-angst?)

When Rodney woke to rain for the fifth morning in a row, he didn’t groan aloud, or demand an extra large coffee, or curl back into his blankets and refuse to get out of bed. He might have sighed, just a little bit, when rolling himself out of the bed and into the morning routine that got him showered and dressed and eventually to his office at the U. But the act of stepping into rain boots and slipping on his waterproof jacket had become nearly habit by now, and walking to work in the rain down an evenly paved sidewalk was really nothing compared to the uphill hikes in torrential downpours that had become a once a month thing when he lived on Atlantis.

It was a Saturday, so Rodney finally had the time to answer the very few interesting emails he’d received over the past week. He found an elegant solution to a problem Radek had raised (entirely theoretically of course) about how to create a self-sustaining warning system for major changes in solar activity. As a bonus, Rodney was also able to include a few choice comments on the merits of setting up a self-sustaining system of any kind if no one was around to be warned by it.

\---

from    Rodney <m_rodney_mckay@gmail.com>  
to    Radek Zelenka <r.zelenka@sga.us.gov>  
date    Sat, Jun 4, 2017 at 1:03 PM  
subject    Re: question on a theory we have discussed

[…..]

And finally, if plasma is heated to tens of millions of kelvins, creating a chain of reactions in which matter is accelerated to near the speed of light, and no one observes it, did it truly make a ‘flare’?

Yours sincerely,  
Dr. Rodney McKay, PhD, PhD.

\---

from    Radek Zelenka <r.zelenka@sga.us.gov>  
to    Rodney <m_rodney_mckay@gmail.com>  
date    Sat, Jun 4, 2017 at 1:24 PM  
subject    Re: question on a theory we have discussed

Yes. Obviously.

Radek

\---

from    Rodney <m_rodney_mckay@gmail.com>  
to    Radek Zelenka <r.zelenka@sga.us.gov>  
date    Sat, Jun 4, 2017 at 1:35 PM  
subject    Re: question on a theory we have discussed

Oh, for the love of….

OF COURSE it still counts as a solar flare Radek, but I am making a rhetorical point.  I am quite good at rhetoric you know. I won a prize in middle school for Best Use of Rhetorical Devices in a story I submitted to the school paper. 

ANYHOW, you know what I meant. 

Dr. Rodney McKay, PhD, PhD

\---

from    Radek Zelenka <r.zelenka@sga.us.gov>  
to    Rodney <m_rodney_mckay@gmail.com>  
date    Sat, Jun 4, 2017 at 1:39 PM  
subject    Re: question on a theory we have discussed

Yes, I know. Hope to see you soon, Mr. Rhetorical Devices.

\---

Around 3 o’clock, Rodney’s TA-of-the-semester stuck her head in the door.

“Dr. McKay!  I didn’t expect to see you here on a Saturday!”

Rodney sniffed. “Perhaps you think my work standards are as lax as most of the other faculty here, Ms. Tevens?”

Martha Tevens laughed. Rodney gave her a half-hearted glare, but she really was the best TA he’d had since he’d come to the U.  He was considering keeping her after the semester was over, which would be a move unprecedented in all of Rodney’s academic experiences.

“Perhaps I should ask what <i>you</i> are doing on campus on a Saturday?” he said.

“Right,” she said. “Normally my Saturdays are just sleeping late and getting ready to party all night. Except not, because I work for you and I’m not an undergrad.”

She rolled her eyes.

“I was just dropping off the midterm papers for CP 304, and I saw your light on. Don’t you normally work from home over the weekend? I thought—”

“Yes yes,” Rodney said quickly. “Thank you for the grading, I will review them before the next class.”

He stood up from his desk and threw a few files into his briefcase. 

“Going home now! Off with you!”

Rodney ushered her out of his office, grabbing the files of papers and throwing them into his bag with the others.

Martha gave him a funny look, but just said, “Alright Dr. McKay. Try to enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

\---

Rodney walked the long way home, stopping by local market to pick up a basket of in-season strawberries and a carton of cream, thinking they could go into some kind of Sunday breakfast.

“Muffins, or pancakes, or waffles,” Rodney mumbled to himself as he unlocked the door to the house and let himself in. 

John was sitting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee and reading a newspaper.  He looked up when Rodney came into the room, and the skin around his eyes crinkled into a smile.

“Hey buddy,” John said. “How was your week?”

Rodney had a fleeting thought that wrinkles and ridiculous hair should not be able to create warmth in a person. It just didn’t make sense, thermodynamically, that is.

“Look outside Sheppard!” Rodney pointed to the window. “<i>That</i> has been my week. Rain rain rain rain rain.  This isn’t Portland or Seattle you know! And I’m sure you’re all secretly thrilled because it means there’ll be snow in the mountains for skiing or whatever ridiculous activities you like to do there, but I swear, one more day of this and I’m going to start growing mold.”

John grinned and leaned his chair back on two legs.

“Aww, Rodney,” said John. “I distinctly remember you telling me that you liked rainy weekends. Something about an excuse to stay in bed and drink coffee all day?”

“Ok, first of all, stop using the chair like that.” Rodney poked the back of John’s head, pushing him slightly forwards. “You’ve already broken one, and you’ll break your head next.”

John sat forward and rolled his eyes. Thankfully he did have some sense of self-preservation, because he didn’t say the “yes mom” that was clearly at the tip of his tongue.

“And SECOND of all, Sheppard,” and here Rodney paused. “Well.”

John raised an eyebrow.

Rodney sighed. “Well, it’s not as much fun to stay in bed when it’s just me.”

John’s smile was softer this time, and he stood up and wrapped his arms around Rodney, wet raincoat and all.

“Missed you too, buddy,” he said.

“Well,” Rodney said, trying for imperious but probably achieving something very different, given that he basically had his face tucked into John’s warm neck. “We can have a rainy Sunday tomorrow. I bought strawberries.”

“I love strawberries,” said John.

And well, thought Rodney. Maybe a few more rainy days wouldn’t be so bad.


End file.
